“He was free all through this trial — he’s no longer free. There are the cuffs! Dr. Conrad Murray is the man who killed Michael Jackson!” concluded Politan, host of HLN’s “Prime News.”

“On my deathbed, I will remember — this is one of the moments that will flash before my eyes,” HLN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell vowed, seconds before the verdict was read.

Sadly, HLN had to muddle through — before, during and after the verdict — without its High Priestess of Hootin’ and Hollerin’, Nancy Grace, who was busy rehearsing a jive for Monday night’s live “Dancing With the Stars.”

(UPDATE: Grace got the night’s lowest scores among all the celebs and chief judge Len Goodman told her, ominously: “Well, Nancy, yours is the Cinderella story. You’ve come to the ball and you’ve lasted for eight weeks, which I commend you for. However, for me, it’s midnight and it’s time to go home.” Talking to a gaggle of reporters from Hollywood publications backstage afer her dances, Grace found the Murray prosecutors guilty — of not charging the doctor with Murder One. But, she noted happily, “God’s gonna get him...he can run, but he can’t hide,” adding, “he and Casey Anthony can have a tea party in four years!”)

“A woman fainted awhile ago and had to be taken away by ambulance. Oh my gosh! There’s a baby in there. . . . This is a crush for the child,” Velez-Mitchell told the mother, who was jumping up and down happily, clutching her infant at her chest. “I really suggest you have your child moved,” she told Mom, who smiled for the camera and ignored the advice.

“We’re so happy about the handcuffs,” chimed in a Pasadena blonde dressed in large designer sunglasses and houndstooth-check car coat.

“I don’t even know what to say, I’m so thankful. It’s such a release of emotion. The man needed to go to jail and he’s on his way! Yes! Yes! Yes!” shouted someone named Patty.

“Kudos to the prosecution,” Pasadena Blonde added, giving credit where credit was due.

“Will there be justice for The World’s Most Famous Man?” Politan wondered before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor entered and the show began.

“Think about Paris. Think about Blanket,” said Politan said, referring to Jackson’s kids. “Think about Prince William,” he added. Still talking about Jackson’s heirs.

The judge had instructed those in the room to remain silent as the verdict was read, but La Toya Jackson — who made a dramatically late Loretta Young entrance at the courthouse after tweeting, “I’m on my way – I’m shaking uncontrollably!” — was heard to let out a squeal. But La Toya put a lid on it when the room erupted with a loud “Shhhhh!”

Dr. Conrad Murray reacts after the jury returned with a guilty verdict in his involuntary manslaughter trial. (Al Seib/AP)

“Michael is with us — you just heard that!” Velez-Mitchell reported. “From the family! Stopping to talk to us. . . . There are smiles — but there is no gloating.”

Velez-Mitchell cast her net again, this time snaring Jackson’s sister Rebbie. “Nothing will bring him back, but I’m glad [Murray] was found guilty,” Rebbie confided.

“Not that it will bring Michael Jackson back,” Velez-Mitchell reported. “But the family is clearly jubilant.”

Monday was the second day of deliberations. The jury deliberated for about six hours Friday and for less than three hours Monday before buzzing three times from the deliberation room, indicating it had reached a unanimous verdict.

Murray, who is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 29, was led from the courtroom minutes after the verdict was read. He could be sentenced to as long as four years in prison, as well as lose his medical license.

Jurors decided that Murray caused Jackson’s death in June 2009 when he administered the anesthetic propofol to the pop star at his home without then supervising his patient or taking appropriate action when Jackson stopped breathing.

Murray had said he was out of the room when Jackson gave himself the fatal dose.

The sensational trial included stunning photos of Jackson’s corpse on a hospital gurney and the playing of an audio recording in which a drugged Jackson slurred his words so badly he was barely intelligible.

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